Government forces penetrate the city of Hodeidah and advance in residential neighborhoods

Government troops on Monday moved into the city of Hodeidah (western Yemen) and began to advance in the southern al-Rabsa neighborhood after fierce fighting against the militants of the al-Houthi group.

Eyewitnesses Al-Masdar source online, that fierce battles and street warfare are taking place in the revival of the Rabsa, while the "Apache" helicopters are carrying out intensive raids and heavy machine-gun shelling on Houthi positions.

They said the machine gun had not stopped since noon on Sunday evening.

The fighting has displaced hundreds of residents of these densely-populated neighborhoods, which could herald a major humanitarian crisis, especially as missiles and bullets fly back to different locations in the city, witnesses said.

According to our correspondent, nine civilians were injured with mixed bullets and shrapnel, including children and the sellers of jasmine in Bab Mushrif market near the coast on the Red Sea.